GIS mapping superimposes layers of data about a location over a digital map to reveal trends and gaps in an area. For social purpose organizations working at local or regional levels, this information can be critical in driving awareness and funding towards specific communities’ challenges.
Data can give shelters greater transparency on who is using their services, but there is still a severe lack of information about some of the reasons that people become homeless in the first instance. That means that at present, data is mainly helping the sector ‘react’ to those experiencing homelessness, rather than actively moving to prevent it.
For years, charities and non-profits have had to interpret raw Statistics Canada data on their own. Increased access to in-depth analysis allows organizations to better access and utilize scarce resources.
There is plenty of data about the charitable sector, but it is rarely published in real-time – making it impossible for policymakers, funders and charity leaders to understand crucial trends.
Disaggregated data makes the intersectional nature of the COVID-19 pandemic painfully obvious, but many social purpose organizations don’t have access to critical information – or don’t know what to do with it.
